Top of the World (The Carpenters song)

"Top of the World"
Cover to the single "Top of the World"
Single by The Carpenters
from the album A Song For You
A-side	"Top of the World"
B-side	"Heather"
Released	September 17, 1973
Format	7" single
Recorded	1972
Genre	Country Pop
Length	2:56
Label	A&M 1468
Writer(s)	Richard Carpenter; John Bettis
Producer	Jack Daugherty
Certification	Gold Single
The Carpenters singles chronology
"Yesterday Once More" (1973) "Top of the World" (1973) "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" (1974)
A Song for You track listing Side one "A Song for You" "Top of the World" "Hurting Each Other" "It's Going to Take Some Time" "Goodbye to Love" "Intermission" Side two "Bless the Beasts and Children" "Flat Baroque" "Piano Picker" "I Won't Last a Day Without You" "Crystal Lullaby" "Road Ode" "A Song for You (Reprise)"

"Top of the World"
Lynn Anderson's 1973 Top of the World album.
Single by Lynn Anderson
from the album Top of the World
A-side	"Top of the World"
Released	1973
Format	45 rpm record
Recorded	1972
Genre	Country pop
Length	2:55
Label	Columbia
Writer(s)	Richard Carpenter, John Bettis
Producer	Glenn Sutton, Clive Davis
Certification	Gold Single
Lynn Anderson singles chronology
"Keep Me in Mind" 1973 "Top of the World" (1973) "Sing About Love" 1973

"Top of the World" is the name of a 1972 song by The Carpenters. Originally recorded for and released on the duo's 1972 studio album A Song for You, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in late 1973, becoming the duo's second U.S. number-one single. Originally intended to be only an album cut for the Carpenters, country singer Lynn Anderson covered the song and released it as a single first. Anderson's version reached #2 on the U.S. country singles charts in mid-1973. The success of Anderson's version prompted the Carpenters to release a new version as a single, where it topped the U.S. pop singles chart for two weeks in December 1973. Karen Carpenter re-recorded the song for the band's first compilation as she was not quite satisfied with the original. Brother Richard Carpenter has remixed the song's vocals, most recently for their 35th Anniversary Gold compilation.

In 1975, the French Canadian singer Claude Valade recorded Top of the World in French Au bout du monde, (Lyrics by Christine Charbonneau). The song was part of her album «Collection Country» released by London-Deram.

The Quebecer singer Bourbon Gautier recorded in 2006 Au bout du monde on the album «Quand le Country dit bonjour...» AMP Records. (Lyrics by Christine Charbonneau).

In Japan, the song was used as the opening theme song for the 1995 Japanese drama Miseinen. In 2003, it was used for another drama, as the ending theme song for Beginner.

It appeared in the 2010 soundtrack of Shrek Forever After.

Chart performance

The Carpenters

Chart (1973)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening	2
Record World	3
Canadian RPM Top Singles Chart	1
Oricon (Japanese) Singles Chart	21
UK Singles Chart	5

Lynn Anderson

Chart (1973)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	2
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks	34
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	74
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks	30

Other cover versions

Swedish dansband Vikingarna had a 1974 Svensktoppen hit with a cover version in Swedish, "På världens tak", which was the first Vikingarna song at Svensktoppen.

In 1992, The Sugarcubes, with Björk as lead singer, covered the song. The song was included as a b-side on the single for Walkabout, the second single from the Album Stick Around For Joy.

Shonen Knife's cover appeared on the 1994 tribute album If I Were a Carpenter. It was the ending theme song to the 1995 film The Last Supper and appeared in the 1998 film The Parent Trap and the 2000 film The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy.

Mark O'Connor did an acoustic guitar and mandolin (David Grisman) version of the song on his 1979 album Markology.

In 2006, a Bossa-Nova version of the song was included in Naomi's & Goro album titled [HOME].

A Cantonese Christian song by the name of 冰天的太陽 was written using the melody of the song.

See also

• Hot 100 number-one hits of 1973 (USA)

Preceded by "You Were Always There" by Donna Fargo	RPM Country Tracks number-one single (Lynn Anderson version) August 18–25, 1973	Succeeded by "Trip to Heaven" by Freddie Hart
Preceded by "Photograph" by Ringo Starr	Billboard Hot 100 number-one single (Carpenters version) December 1–8, 1973	Succeeded by "The Most Beautiful Girl" by Charlie Rich